Resident didn't get word on Danielsville Road hearing

Posted: Friday, November 19, 1999

As a resident of Sunnyhills Drive, a neighborhood just off busy Danielsville Road and equally accident-prone Freeman Drive, I can say with assurance that no flier was distributed in my neighborhood regarding Monday's ''public'' meeting about the widening of Danielsville Road.

No one went door to door to ask whether we felt safe commuting to and from Athens on that particular stretch of road, or whether we thought that increased traffic throughput on that road would benefit our quality of life.

Sure, the SPLOST proposal passed in 1994 was a public decision, and at the commission meeting related to this year's SPLOST, I heard business owners along Danielsville Road protesting the effects a median design would have on revenues.

But at no time did the subject of bike lanes (which I support) come up at that meeting. And at no time was I informed of any proposed interruption in bus service (which I depend on) as a result of the project.

Were alternative-transit advocacy groups invited to this meeting, to speak for those of us who typically miss out on the ''democratic'' process of determining who has the best access to the geography of our community?

According to the local alternative-transit advocacy group, BikeAthens, NO. Considering what an afterthought bike lanes seem to be, according to design proposals, it's interesting to me that your paper's headline was devoted entirely to their opposition.

Residents in affected neighborhoods: Pay attention! Or your chance to determine your neighborhood's safety and livability will pass you by.